Cliff Hangers
Cliff Hangers has a cardboard mountain climber who climbs up a mountain based on how far the contestant misses the price of a prize, and missing it by too much could lead the mountain climber to his doom. Gameplay *The centerpiece of Cliff Hangers is a game board with a stylized mountain slope (angled at about 45°) that has a scale which runs from 0 at its base to 25 at the peak, which ends at a cliff. At the start of the game, there is a mountain climber on the 0 mark at the base of the mountain. *The contestant is shown a two-digit prize and asked to bid on it. If he/she bid the actual price, the mountain climber stays where he is. Otherwise, the climber moves up the mountain, advancing along the scale the number of dollars away the contestant's bid is from the actual price. To give an element of suspense to the game, the actual price is not revealed until after the climber has moved, so that the contestant and audience will not know how far he will travel. If the climber remains on the mountain, the contestant wins that small prize. *The process is repeated for two more two-digit prizes, generally of increasing value. The climber continues from the point at which he stopped for the previous prize. If the climber goes over the cliff at any point, the game ends; however, the contestant keeps any small prizes won up to that point. If the contestant's bids are a total of $25 or less away from the actual prices of the 2-digit prizes at the end of the game, the contestant wins all three small prizes and a grand prize. *Though not a car game by nature, it's one of the few "non-car" games played at minimum once a season for a car (the others are Range Game, Race Game, Push Over, Safe Crackers, Squeeze Play, and Double Prices). History *The game first premiered on April 12, 1976. Originally, four small prizes were offered; it was reduced to three on June 10, 1976. On its first playing, it was lost on the fourth and final prize. *A yodeling song, which has become a cornerstone of the game, is played as the mountain climber moves up the mountain. The audience would oftenly clap along. The music currently used is part of a song called "On the Franches Mountains," which was originally drawn from a record album titled Swiss Mountain Music. The show has occasionally used the full song as prize music when trips to Switzerland and Holland are offered. Originally, the yodeling music used was a portion of "The Silly Song" from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Until December 23, 1986, the game used a crashing sound that was also used in Hurdles for when the climber fell. On the January 21, 1993 episode, as the mountain climber fell, the One Away horn was accidentally played at first instead of the crashing sound, but then seconds later, the crashing sound was played; Bob remarked, "That was quite a drop; I was going on before he hit bottom! He's in bad shape; oh, no, don't--we don't want to see him." There have been other instances where the game has had some minor humorous malfunctions (the mountain climber stopping at the wrong place, moving backwards, stopping and starting again). Bob usually claimed that the mountain climber had been drinking, when these occured. For instance, on September 3, 1981, the mountain climber fell off the cliff yet Carol still won the game as she missed the price of the final prize by $1 after the mountain climber was on step 24, in which Roger Dobkowitz backstage came on camera to explain what went wrong; and on the third $1,000,000 Spectacular on February 19, 2003 (aired out of order on February 12), the motor failed for the first time, and the only time to date; and so Dave Price backstage turned the crank to operate it manually. *On the June 17, 2013 Wedding Shower episode, a trip to Aruba for 22 people worth $47,017 was offered and won. *On the September 24, 2013 (aired out of order on October 16, originally rescheduled to air on October 15), and October 28, 2016 episodes, as part of "Big Money Week", Cliff Hangers was played under special rules that let the contestant play for up to $250,000. Rather than playing for one large prize, as usual, the contestant would get $10,000 for each space on the board left at the end of the game, which meant that if the contestant had gotten all three prizes exactly right, they would have won $250,000; this would explain why the climber began on Step 1 instead of Step 0. In the playing on the show, the contestant missed the three prizes by a total of $22, meaning he walked away with $30,000. *On October 24, 2013 (aired out of order on October 10), a contestant named Eriq Draper won a $20,000 bonus for being the first person on stage to win their pricing game during PCH week. It was played in the first slot. *On February 13, 2015, the bachelor and bachelorette parties to Mexico worth $39,000 were offered but were lost. *Cliff Hangers was played perfectly three times. (February 20, 1996, Mar. 27, 2001 & Jun. 4, 2002) *Cliff Hangers was played 5 times on the Primetime version of the show. On top of that, they were all won. *On the August 11, 2015 (aired out of order on August 10) Summer Beach Party special, where it was decorated for the Balance Game, a large version of the mountain climber dressed up in summer gear and on a surfboard was featured. *On the April Fool's Day 2016 show, as a joke, it was called the "Yodely Guy" game and its said mountain climber was facing backward. *On April 12, 2016 the show celebrated the game's 40th anniversary with a 40th Anniversary Cliffhangers Special show. On that day, it was not played 6 times, just like the Plinko special, but it was played sometime during the show. *On May 9, 2016, the game was featured on Let's Make a Deal as part of a mashup between both shows. The contestant who played won golf clubs. *On June 22, 2016, Salvatore was off by only $3, all on the second prize. He got help from his wife, Karen, in the audience. *On October 28, 2016, during Big Money Week when the top prize was $250,000, history was made, when contestant Christen managed to win $210,000, by winning on the 4th step. As a result, she became the biggest daytime winner on "The Price is Right", since Sheree Heil won $170,345 on December 31, 2013 (aired out of order on December 30). *On January 4, 2017 during Publishers Clearing House week, contestant Yaakov Kessler won a $20,000 bonus for being the first contestant to win a pricing game. It was played in the first slot. Bidding Way Too Much *There have been occasions where the contestant has given an obviously off bid on the first price, and Bob humorously dealt with it. On September 14, 1992, (the 21st season premiere), a contestant bid $350 on a $25 watch. Bob, knowing what was about to happen, had the contestant sit on the set with him, as they waited for the mountain climber to climb and fall. On a 1996 episode, another contestant bid $850 on a $23 toy guitar. Bob, on that occasion started to ask for the price before the mountain climber started climbing, and then told the mountain climber to hurry up and fall, so they could move on. Belting Out the Tune *On the February 24, 2000 episode (the same day as the Flip Flop premiere), a contestant named Walter yodeled the song. After missing the first prize, the regular music for a few seconds at which point Walter started yodeling. He went on to yodel after missing the last two prizes, and stopped when he noticed the climber wasn't stopping. As soon as the climber fell off, he mimicked the climber and fell to the floor to laughter and applause. *On the September 22, 2006 episode (the final day of the Season 35 premiere week), a contestant named Mary-Leticia also yodeled the song. Instead of their own regular Yodeling background music, she went on to yodel after missing all three prizes, and stopped and has won all three prizes. *The popularity of the game has led to a life-size cut-out of the mountain climber used in some Showcases and One Bids in Season 37. The yodeling music was also used during a contestant's Showcase Showdown spins on the April 1, 2009 episode. Trivia *The 3 items that are being used get arranged from the least expensive all the way to the most expensive. *The most number of times this game was played in any season was 41. Special Mountain Climber Looks *In the Halloween 2009 (October 30, 2009) show, Drew Carey dressed up as the mountain climber. *On June 7, 2013, the mountain climber got dressed mortarboard and gown for the Graduation Special. *On June 17, 2013, the mountain climber was dressed as a groom for a wedding shower show. *On October 31, 2013, the mountain climber was dressed as the grim reaper in honor of Halloween. *On March 3, 2014, the mountain climber was dressed up in a onesie for a baby shower show. *On March 17, 2014, the mountain climber was dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day. *On May 22, 2013 (aired out of order on May 24) & June 6, 2014 (aired out of order on May 16, Originally rescheduled to air on June 13), the mountain climber got a firefighter suit, to salute firefighters. *On February 13, 2015, the mountain climber was dressed in a tuxedo for Valentine's Day. *On February 18, 2015, the mountain climber was Rachel Reynolds, who at first was covered up in a rock. Rachel herself provided the yodeling. *On the 2015 4th of July Special on July 6, 2015 (aired out of order on July 3), the mountain climber was dressed up as George Washington on a boat. *As mentioned above, the April Fool's Day 2016 episode had the mountain climber facing backwards. *On the April 12, 2016 the pricing game's 40th Anniversary Special, the mountain climber held a yellow balloon that had the number 40 on it. *On The Amazing Race primetime special aired on May 25, 2016, the mountain climber wore a backpack. *On November 23, 2016, the mountain climber wore a chef's uniform. This led to a bit of embarassment -- his hat was too tall, and thus it hung up at the top of mountain (the contestant had guessed $99 for a $26 prize), and Drew Carey had to push him over the edge. The Climber's Name Officially, the mountain climber has no name, although several hosts have used their own names for him: *Bob Barker/Tom Kennedy – Never have referred to the climber by a name, only the mountain climber. No host of any of the UK or Italian versions referred to the mountain climber by a name, either. *Doug Davidson – On The New Price Is Right he called the climber "Hans Gudegast", which is the birth name of his Young and Restless co-star Eric Braeden. When Cliff Hangers was lost on this version, Doug would often joke that "Hans was being rushed to Genoa City Memorial (Hospital)." *Drew Carey – Has noted that the climber does not have an official name. He has referred to him by "Hans", "Yodel Man", and most frequently "Yodely Guy". *Dennis James – When the game was first played in mid-1976, Dennis once referred to the climber as "Fritz", not knowing of model Janice Pennington's first husband Fritz Stammberger, who had disappeared in what was presumed at the time to be a mountain-climbing accident shortly before the debut. After the climber fell off the cliff, Dennis said, "There goes Fritz!" This upset Janice so much that she remained backstage crying for the rest of the episode. *Larry Emdur (Australian version): Called the mountain climber "Cliff". "Cliff" is accompanied by a St. Bernard named "Spot". When the game was lost, only Cliff fell, leaving Spot on the mountain. The camera also shakes to indicate a "crash" effect when Cliff falls. *Marco Antonio Regil (Mexico): Called the climber "Pancho". *Carlo Boszhard (The Netherlands): Called the climber "Malcolm". *Harry Wijnvoord (Germany): Called the climber "Hoeffel". *Wayne Brady: Called the mountain climber "Sven" on the May 9, 2016, mash-up episode, when Cliff Hangers was played on Let's Make a Deal. ''Surprisingly, on the October 12, 2016 episode, when the mountain climber came back for a brief appearance on the show, during "1 for 30 Week", the name "Sven" didn't come to mind. *The Price Is Right Live! – The name "Johann" was occasionally used. *On the 43rd Season Premiere, a mountain climber replica was offered to the contestant. Foreign Versions *Cliffhangers usually has the same format worldwide, but on Germany's ''Der Preis ist heiß, the prizes each had a range attached to them, and the contestant had to bid within that range for it to count. *In Finland, the climber goes leftward rather than rightward, but otherwise, the game is the same. *On all UK versions, the prizes are announced one-at-a-time (similar to the car plugs in Triple Play); therefore, if the mountain climber falls before whatever prizes are left, no plug is read for those. *Most, if not all, versions of Cliff Hangers outside of the US, have the mountain climber screaming when he is falling. *Other versions of the game are referred to as follows: **United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and Finland - "Cliffhanger" (no S) **Australia - same as the US **Mexico - "La Montana Sinestra" (The Sinister Mountain) **Germany - "Absturz" (Crash) **France - "Le Tyrolien" (The Tyrolean ?) **Italy - "La Scogliera" (The Cliff) **Portugal - "Precipicio" (Price Peak) **Indonesia - "Zarasambhalke" (Tread Carefully) Pictures Cliff Hangers.jpg|Cliff Hangers facing front Cliff Hangers 1.jpg|Cliff Hangers with Bob Barker Cliff Hangers 2.jpg|Cliff Hangers with Drew Carey & Larry Emdur Cliffhangers1.png Cliffhangers2.png Old_School_Format_Cliff_Hangers.png New_School_Format_of_Cliff_Hangers.png cliffhangers_mountain_climber_by_wheelgenius-d3gwgfv.jpg|The beloved mountain climber. Don't make him fall off the mountain or you'll lose the game! cliffhangersapril1.jpg|Here's the playing under the title "Yodely Guy" Special Mountain Climber Looks cliffhangersfirefighter1.png|From May 22, 2013 (aired out of order on May 24) and June 6, 2014 (aired out of order on May 16, originally rescheduled to air June 13) cliffhangersgrad.png|From June 7, 2013 cliffhangerwedding.png|From June 17, 2013 cliffhangershalloween.png|From October 31, 2013 cliffhangersonesie.png|From March 3, 2014 cliffhangersleprachaun.png|From March 17, 2014 cliffhangers2015.png|From February 13, 2015 udecidecliffhangers1.png|From February 18, 2015: At first, the mountain climber is covered by a rock, and... udecidecliffhangers2.png|Ta-da! It's Rachel! Cliffhangersjuly4.jpg|From July 6, 2015 (aired out of order on July 3) backwardsyodelyguy.jpg|From April 1, 2016 40th Anniversary of Cliff Hangers CliffHangers40 Pic-1.JPG CliffHangers40 Pic-2.JPG CliffHangers40 Pic-3.JPG CliffHangers40 Pic-4.JPG Christen's $210,000 Win! 250000cliffhangers1.jpg 250000cliffhangers2.jpg 250000cliffhangers3.jpg 250000cliffhangers4.jpg 250000cliffhangers5.jpg|She bid $22 on the iron but is not correct. 250000cliffhangers6.jpg 250000cliffhangers7.jpg 250000cliffhangers8.jpg|She bid $35 on the heater fan and is correct! 250000cliffhangers9.jpg 250000cliffhangers10.jpg|She bid $50 on the drink maker but is wrong. 250000cliffhangers11.jpg 250000cliffhangers12.jpg 250000cliffhangers13.jpg Perfect Playing on Cliff Hangers Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-1.png|Chad is playing Cliff Hangers and the first item is a basket. Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-2.png|He gets the exact price which is $20. Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-3.png|Up next is the paint. Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-4.png|Chad gets the 2nd item exactly right which is $30. He made it 2 for 2. Could he make it 3 for 3? Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-5.png|This is the last item, it's a canister set. Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-6.png|Unbelieveable! Chad gets the 3rd item exactly right which was $40 and instantly wins the game. Chad's Perfect Playing of Cliff Hangers-7.png|Chad shakes Bob's hand. Close Call Victories Carol Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-1.png|Carol plays Cliff Hangers. The first item is shoes. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-2.png|Hans the mountain climber stops on 13. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-3.png|The shoes were $19. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-4.png|Hans was supposed to stop at 16. The shoes were $19 and Carol guessed $35. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-5.png|The 2nd item is a waffler, which could be used to make waffles. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-6.png|Hans is at step 24. Carol thought it was $37. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-7.png|Actual price: $29. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-8.png|Last but not least, the tableware. She can miss it by $1 one way or the other. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-9.png|Remember, Hans the mountain climber is at step 24. He can climb one more step safely. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-10.png|Uh-oh! Hans the mountain climber went over the cliff. But-- Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-11.png|Carol guessed $61 on the Tableware. Actual Price: $62. So, Carol did win the game. The machine for the game was getting old, said Roger Dobkowitz. Carol's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-12.png|Carol was pleased to win the game, even though Hans the Mountain Climber was supposed to stop on the 25th step when he didn't. Juanita Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-1.png|Juanita plays Cliff Hangers. First up is a cooker. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-2.png|She missed the price by $8. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-3.png|Actual Price: $13. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-4.png|Next up is a Rug Cleaner. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-5.png|Oh dear, Juanita missed the price by $17. Hans has to remain there at the end of the game. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-6.png|Actual Price: $33. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-7.png|Juanita needs to guess the price of the Fondue exactly right. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-8.png|If not, Hans could fall to his doom. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-9.png|Juanita successfully guessed the correct price of the Fondue which is $45. Juanita's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-10.png|Give it up for Juanita, ladies and gentlemen. Joy Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-1.png|Joy plays Cliff Hangers. First up is a mirror. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-2.png|Joy missed the price by $10. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-3.png|Actual Price: $30. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-4.png|The Hair Setter is next. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-5.png|Uh-oh, Joy missed the price by $15. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-6.png|Actual Price: $40. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-7.png|Joy needs to get the 3rd item exactly right or Hans could fall to his doom. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-8.png|The 3rd item is a Rocker/Bike. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-9.png|$45 was what Joy guessed and that was the exact price. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-10.png|Look at Joy's reaction. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-11.png|Let's give it up for Joy. Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-12.png|Here's Hans on the 25th step. This happened to be another close call victory. Natalie Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-1.png|Natalie plays Cliff Hangers. The first item is a Sandwich Maker (for making sandwiches). Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-2.png|Hmm, she missed the price by $12. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-3.png|Actual price: $23. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-4.png|A Joke Teller is the 2nd item. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-5.png|Hans takes 12 more steps. He's on the 24th step. Natalie looks anxious. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-6.png|Actual price: $30. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-7.png|The 3rd item is a Blender. She can miss the price by $1 high or low. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-8.png|Hans takes 1 more step and stops. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-9.png|Natalie is in shock! Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-10.png|Actual Price: $49. Natalie's Close Call in Cliff Hangers-11.png|Bob salutes Natalie. Natalie's_Close_Call_in_Cliff_Hangers-12.png|Natalie was most impressed. Laura Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-1.png|Laura plays Cliff hangers. First up is a Pool Lounge. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-2.png|Good start; Laura missed the price by $5. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-3.png|Actual price: $20. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-4.png|A Bank is the 2nd item. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-5.png|OK, Laura missed the price by $7. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-6.png|Actual price: $30. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-7.png|Hans can climb 13 steps safely up the mountain. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-8.png|The final item is a Pet Brush (for those who have a cat or a dog). Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-9.png|Hans did so take 13 more steps up the mountain and stops. Laura was amazed. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-10.png|Take note Laura was jumping up and down. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-11.png|Actual price: $40. Laura's Close Call on Cliff Hangers-12.png|Let's give it up for Laura. Videos Cliff Hangers Debuts (April 12, 1976) Carol wins over the edge on Cliff Hangers? (September 3, 1981) Note: Stop the video at 5:30 Juanita wins to the edge (September 9, 1991) The 1st perfect playing of Cliff Hangers (February 20, 1996) Joy's Close Call on Cliff Hangers (May 2, 1996) Walter the yodeler! (February 24, 2000) Natalie's Close Call on Cliff Hangers (January 2, 2006) Laura wins to the edge (June 12, 2007) A Cliff Hangers playing from Big Money Week 2013 (September 24, 2013, aired out of order on October 16, originally rescheduled to air on October 15) Cliffhangers for a $47,017 Trip to Aruba (June 17, 2013) An excellent playing of Cliff Hangers for a trip to Paris (November 27, 2014, aired out of order on December 1) Dismal Playing from 2015 (May 14, 2015) Playing of Cliffhangers on "Let's Make A Deal" as part of Mash-Up Week (May 9, 2016) New biggest daytime winner from cliff hangers (October 28, 2016) Category:Pricing Games Category:Active Games Category:Small Prize Games Category:1970s Pricing Games Category:OK to be Wrong Category:Estimate as Close as You Can Category:Center Stage Pricing Games Category:Primetime Pricing Games Category:Predict the Correct Price Category:Can Be Finished Immediately Category:Instant Winning Pricing Games Category:Long Play Category:Easy Winning Pricing Games Category:"C" Pricing Games Category:2-Word Pricing Games